22nd World Day Against the Death Penalty – The death penalty protects no one
Observed every 10 October, the World Day Against the Death Penalty unifies the global abolitionist movement and mobilizes civil society, political leaders, lawyers, public opinion and more to support the call for the universal abolition of capital punishment.
The day encourages and consolidates the political and general awareness of the worldwide movement against the death penalty.
On 10 October 2024 and 2025, the World Day will be dedicated to challenging the misconception that the death penalty can make people and communities safer.
Security is commonly understood as freedom from danger or threat, but its interpretation varies considerably. It is a term rooted in political discourse and often used as a political tactic to influence public opinion and justify security policies. The determination of who are considered threats, and who are to be protected is often influenced by power dynamics, discrimination, and inequality. When applied to criminal justice, security offenses are in many cases broadly defined and can be open to abuse. Using the “security argument” at best politicizes a judicial procedure that is supposed to be impartial and fair, and at worst provides a context for human rights abuses in the name of State protection.
It is undeniable that the death penalty does not protect individuals and societies because it threatens human dignity and reinforces social and economic disparities by disproportionately affecting marginalized groups. To achieve effective long-term solutions, we must prioritize people’s concerns, tackle the root causes of crime and violence and apply a human security approach in conflict resolution and creating safer societies. Abolish the death penalty now!
Scroll down and find more information about security and the death penalty in our leaflet, detailed factsheet, facts & figures sheet, and more! World Day Posters are available in Arabic, English, Farsi, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Lingala, Luganda, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Traditional Chinese, Urdu, and Yoruba.
The death penalty in practice
(Statistics from Amnesty International)
- 112 States have abolished the death penalty for all crimes
- 9 States have abolished the death penalty for common law crimes
- 23 States are abolitionists in practice
- 55 States are retentionists
- The 5 States that executed the most in the world in 2023 are, in order: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the USA.
- At least 27,687 individuals are known to be under a sentence of death around the world at the end of 2023, of which less than 5% are women (statistic on women sentenced to death by Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide).
